Of love and Baseball
by Parvulissula
Summary: I know they play softball, but for the sake of the challenge they're playing baseball. Response to a challenge at the Chilton thing. Luke gets hurt. Lorelai comes to the rescue. JAVAJUNKIE. Duh


Author's Note: Wow, this should've been done a lot sooner. Along with tons of other fics. I'm very torn. Since I've gotten a DSL cable, I haven't written as much because I used to always write when I was waiting for my page to load, and now, it just loads really quick-like. Especially at ff.n. Hmm, I wonder why that is. Oh well. I'm sorry everything sucks and is taking me forever to write!

This is a response to a challenge at The Chilton Prep School.  

Author's Note 2 because it is completely unrelated to the first one: Pretend Lorelai has a TV in her room because I love using furniture that really isn't there…

~*~

NEW - Submitted by: Zepposgirl  
  
_Here's an idea I've been tossing around, but I'm not a great writer. Let's make it PG-13, because that's what the show's all about. And please make it true to their characters. I know there's tons of great writers out there, so here goes:  
  
Luke injures his hamstring while playing baseball. It's an evening game, and Lorelai and Rory are there to watch Dean play. I'm not sure what position Luke plays, but the injury has to be plausible (like while sliding into second base or falling while trying to make a great catch). He injures himself early in the game, so the game isn't over yet when Lorelai offers to take him home. On the way home, she remembers that when she hurt her back, Babette had an herbal cure that helped her (I know that it didn't happen in the actual episode, but what if?), so she decides to take Luke to her place first. Luke is in no position to argue, his leg hurts pretty badly, and knowing his aversion to hospitals and all things medical, Lorelai convinces him easily. The remedy has to be applied topically. But while Lorelai is getting the stuff, Babette also offers her a recipe and ingredients for a concoction that can lessen the pain if it is taken orally. Lorelai convinces Luke to go into her house so she can whip up the stuff. The drink happens to have some alcohol in it, and relaxes Luke a lot. Luke's inhibitions are lowered and he tells Lorelai a lot more than he intended. And while she's rubbing the ointment on his leg, he feels more than he intended. She feels more than she intended, too. The night ends innocently; Lorelai doesn't want to take advantage. But they wake up in her bed the next morning (show what leads up to that). Maybe they're ready to take it to the next level (like finally admitting their feelings for each other)._

~*~

"Hey Mom, do you want to come to the baseball game tonight with me?" Rory asked.

"Why would _I_ want to watch _baseball_?" Lorelai asked.

"Guys in tight white pants?" Rory answered hoping to convince her.

"The idea is looking much less absurd."

"And Dean's team is playing Luke's team."

"Ooh, so you want to go watch narcoleptic boy in tight white pants?"

"No." Rory answered innocently.

"Uh-huh. Well I suppose I'll go just to make sure that Luke doesn't accidentally kill Dean."

"Thanks mom." Rory smiled as she went to her room to change out of her uniform.

Lorelai went up to her room to change into jeans and a t-shirt that said, 'ALL-STAR' across the front and '69'on the back. She went back downstairs to where Rory was sitting in a chair reading. 

"Go back upstairs and change." Rory sighed as she looked up at her mother walking into the kitchen.

"What?" Lorelai asked innocently.

"Just because you're going to a baseball game doesn't mean you can wear that."

Lorelai pouted, "Please?"

"You aren't my mother." Rory said shaking her head.

"No, _you_ aren't my daughter." Lorelai said playfully.

"Uh huh. So are you going to change?"

"Nope. When is the game?"

"First pitch is in an hour."

"Okay, let's go watch them warm up!" Lorelai said as she pulled Rory out of the chair.

"Okay." Rory agreed, dropping her book on the table on the way out.

~*~

"Hey Luke." Lorelai greeted casually as she walked up to the bullpen where he was warming up.

He jumped, making him throw a wild pitch, and walked over to the edge of the cage, "Geez Lorelai. Don't sneak up on me like that."

Lorelai smirked, "Whatcha doin' in a cage?" she asked as she took a bite of her hot dog.

"Warming up. What are you doing here? You _do _know that this is a baseball game, right? And that they don't serve coffee at the concession stand."

"Ha ha. Rory dragged me here so she could see Dean play but now she disowned me. Yes, I do know that they don't serve coffee here. That's why I went to the diner before I came here and Caesar gave me a cup." she said proudly.

"Why did Rory disown you?" Luke asked, half amused.

"My shirt. Apparently she doesn't approve of it."

"All-Star? So?"

Lorelai turned around.

Luke laughed, "Oh."

"Ooh!" Lorelai exclaimed as she got an idea, "Can I be the bat girl? I want to utilize this shirt as much as I can!"

"Um, okay sure."

"Stop flirting and keep warming up! We have to beat these punks!" Bootsy took his catching helmet off and yelled at Luke.

"Shut up Bootsy." Luke yelled back as he felt color rising in his cheeks.

Lorelai laughed, "Later Luke. Oh yeah, do Rory a favor and don't accidentally try to kill Dean."

~*~

They were in the top of the fourth inning and the score was tied- zero to zero. Luke had pitched eight strikeouts and hadn't walked anyone. The few people that did get on base were picked off before they got to second. Dean's team was doing almost as well. There were two outs and Luke was up to bat. "Move in!" Dean called from Centerfield as all the outfielders moved to the edge of the grass. Luke had a full count on him (2 strikes, 3 balls) and he swung at the sixth pitch and it flew off of his bat and over Dean's head and landed at the fence in centerfield as he rounded first and by the time he had gotten to third Dean got the ball and threw it home as Luke was making his way home. "SAFE!" the umpire called as Luke slid and the ball came in. Luke grimaced and clenched his thigh as he tried to get up. He limped back to the dugout, dragging his right leg.

"You're all right, right?" Bootsy asked frantically as Luke got into the dugout and sat on the bench, putting his leg up.

"I'm fine." Luke grumbled.

"No you're not Luke. You're limping." Lorelai admonished.

"I'll be fine." he grunted.

"You can't play." Lorelai pointed out.

"What do you mean? You're our best pitcher Luke." Bootsy said worriedly.

"Shut up Bootsy." Lorelai said annoyed.

"I'll be fine in a couple innings. I just need a little break." Luke argued.

"Uh huh. Let's see you walk Lukester." Lorelai challenged.

Luke tried to get off the bench, it wasn't happening. "Damn it."

"Come on, I'll take you home." Lorelai offered.

Luke began to argue but pain shot up his leg, "Fine." he mumbled.

Rory came over to Luke's dugout, "Hey is Luke okay?" she asked.

"Nothing life-threatening. I'm taking him home. Are you going to stay here?"

"Yeah." Rory nodded, "Dean will take me home after the game."

"Alright." Lorelai agreed as Rory went back to the bleachers on the other side. She turned back to Luke, "I'm going to go get the jeep." she said as she left. She came back a minute later and opened the jeep door and moved the front seat up and put it down. She and Bootsy helped him into the back seat of the jeep and he put his leg up across the seat.

~*~

"Oh! When I hurt my back, Babette had this herbal thing and it helped a lot."

Luke just groaned.

"I'll take you back to my place and get some from Babette. It'll be better than a hospital." Lorelai pointed out.

Luke sighed, "Fine." he grimaced as she hit a pothole.

"Sorry!" she apologized.

~*~

Lorelai helped Luke hop up the stairs, "Why are we going upstairs?" Luke groaned.

"Because the springs-of-death in the couch would only hurt your leg more." Lorelai answered simply.

"Uh, okay."

They finally made it up the stairs and into Lorelai's room; she helped him onto the bed and put a pillow under his leg. "I'll be back in a little while. I'm going to go get that ointment." 

~*~

"Hey Babette!" Lorelai smiled as Babette opened the door.

"Lorelai, honey! Come on in!" Babette greeted happily.

"Remember when I hurt my back and you gave me that ointment to help heal the muscle?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah hon', you hurt again?" Babette asked concerned.

"No, not me. Luke hurt his leg."

"Ouch," Babette grimaced sympathetically. "I have a recipe for something that could help him with the pain while the muscle heals." Babette offered.

"That would be great." Lorelai smiled appreciatively.

"Here you go." Babette handed Lorelai a tube and a piece of paper, along with a bag of ingredients after searching around cabinets and drawers in the kitchen.

"Thanks Babette!"

"No problem Lorelai, just don't hurt his leg anymore, if ya know what I mean." Babette winked suggestively.

Lorelai rolled her eyes and walked back to her house completely disregarding what Babette was insinuating.

 ~*~

"Luke! I'm back!" Lorelai called up the stairs. Luke grunted and Lorelai walked up the stairs with the piece of paper. "How you doing?" She asked, leaning on the wall.

"Fine." he lied through his teeth.

"No you're not, tough guy." She handed him the recipe, "You aren't allergic to anything on there, are you?"

"Vodka? What is this?" Luke asked incredulously as he read the paper.

"It's to ease the pain. So you're not allergic to any of the other stuff?"

Luke shook his head, "No."

"Alright, I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere." She joked as she took the paper from him.

"Ha ha. Not funny."

"Alright Mr. Grumbles." Lorelai rolled her eyes dramatically and went downstairs with the paper.

~*~Twenty minutes later~*~

Lorelai walked up the stairs with a big glass. Here's your drink, chock-full of alcoholic goodness." Lorelai said as she handed it to him.

"Uh, thanks, I think." Luke said uncertainly as he took a cautious sip.

"What? Just because _I_ made it doesn't mean that it isn't good or that it will kill you!" she defended.

Luke drained the rest of the drink, "Actually, that wasn't too bad."

"Good!" Lorelai proclaimed victoriously.

"But that doesn't mean I'm ever letting you cook anything I eat."

"Fine by me, I like you cooking for _me better anyway." Lorelai smiled, "I need more coffee and food. I'm going to the diner. You want anything?"_

"Um, yeah. Tell Caesar I'm here and just get a salad or something like that, not full of lard preferably."

"Aw, it's no good if it doesn't have a good healthy dosage of lard!" Lorelai smirked.

"Yeah, 'good healthy dosage of lard', now there's an oxymoron." Luke rolled his eyes.

"I'll be back soon." Lorelai smiled as she went to the diner.

~*~

"Hey Caesar!" Lorelai greeted as she walked into the diner.

"Hi Lorelai."

"What are you doing back from the game already?" Caesar asked curiously.

"Luke hurt his leg, he's at my house for a little while. You may as well close up tonight, I don't think he can do it himself if he wanted to." She looked at the clock, "And open tomorrow morning. But don't tell anyone anything, this town is so gossipy the rumors would be flying all over the place."

"Alright. Luke's hurt, I'm closing for him, and opening for him. He might be down later tomorrow depending on his leg." 

"Right. Could I get some coffee, a burger, and something I would never eat, to go please."

"Okay. Why something you would never eat?" Caesar asked confused.

"For Luke."

"Oh, makes sense. Okay. Comin' right up." Caesar said as he went into the kitchen and brought out two take out boxes and a large paper cup and filled the paper cup with coffee and putting the plastic lid on it, handed it all to Lorelai.

"Thanks." 

~*~

"Hey Luke."

"Hey Lorelai." he looked up at her as she entered the room with the two boxes and paper cup.

"I've got food."

He patted the space next to him, "Come sit down."

"You sure?"

"It doesn't hurt right now."

"That's because you're probably drunk off your ass because of all that vodka."

"No I'm not." he argued, "If I was drunk off my ass I would've asked you to do something else."

Lorelai raised an eyebrow, "Uh huh. Okay. Caesar is going to close up tonight and open tomorrow, so you're staying here because it's getting late." 

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yep." She nodded as she sat down on the bed next to him and opened the top box, and saw that it was a burger and handed Luke the bottom box. Luke opened his box and it was a burger too. "Ah! Luke, they look the same! Which one is yours?!" Lorelai asked confused.

"I don't know." he shrugged.

Lorelai took a bite of what she thought was the hamburger, "EW!" she spit out the bite in the box and took a huge swig of the coffee.

"So, that one is mine?" Luke asked amused.

"Stop smirking."

"I'm not smirking."

"Yes you are. You think it's funny that I just took a bite out of this disgusting…_thing_."

"It's a veggie burger." Luke supplied.

"Ew." Lorelai shuttered.

Luke switched the boxes. "You don't have any strange caffeine diseases, do you?"

"No." Lorelai stuck out her tongue at Luke.

"Okay. Good." Luke said as he ate his veggie burger.

Lorelai cautiously took a bite out of her burger. "Mm, good, lard filled goodness."

"You are so gross." Luke shook his head.

"You love me anyway." She smiled.

Luke shrugged.

Lorelai raised an eyebrow; "We need to get that ointment on your leg before you come out of your drunken stupor."

"I'm not drunk." he argued.

"Uh huh. Are you wearing shorts under your pants?" Lorelai asked hopefully.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because the ointment isn't going to do any good on your pants."

"Oh, um. Okay."

"Right, so I'm going to go downstairs and get the ointment and you take your pants off. Okay, that sounded dirty but there is no other possible way to say it."

Luke chuckled, "Alright then."

~*~

Lorelai went back downstairs to get the ointment from the kitchen and then checked the message on the answering machine.

"Hey Mom, call me on your cell phone."

"Hm," Lorelai thought aloud, "I wonder what she wants?" she searched around for the phone. When she finally found it she picked it up and dialed the number, "Hey Rory."

"Hey mom."

"You rang?"

"Yeah. Can I spend the night at Lane's tonight?"

"Sure. As long as Mrs. Kim is fine with it. Is the game over?"

"Alright. Great! No, not yet but the score is still 1-0. How's Luke?" Rory asked curiously.

"He'll be okay. He's over here and a little drunk, even though he won't admit it."

"What? How did he get drunk?"

"Babette gave me this stuff to ease the pain and it had a little, well, a lot of vodka in it."

"Right, well, I've got to go. Be good!"

"Of course." Lorelai laughed, "Bye, love ya." she said as she hung up.

~*~

Luke tried to reach to his feet again, "Damn it!" he cursed as Lorelai apprehensively walked in.

"Having trouble?" she tried not to smirk.

"Yes." he sighed defeated.

"I'm sorry. Need help?" she asked as she put the cream on the side table.

"I can't get my damn cleats off."

"I bet you wouldn't have been able to get your pants off either." she said as she sat down on the end of the bed and untied his cleats, slowly pulling them off.

"Why are you doing this?" Luke asked curiously.

"Doing what?" Lorelai asked confused as she untied his other cleat.

"Bringing me here, doing all this stuff for me?"

"Because we're friends, that's what friends do." Lorelai answered simply.

"Is that all we'll ever be?" Luke asked quietly.

"What?" she asked as she put the cleat on the floor, "Try takin' off your pants now."

Luke unbuckled his pants and tried to slide them off. He didn't get very far.

Lorelai helped him slide them the rest of the way down, very happy that he was wearing grey shorts. "What was that you said?" 

"Nothing." he shrugged.

Lorelai raised an eyebrow, *is that all we'll ever be?* his voice rang in her head. "Alright, well can you roll over?"

"Depends, do you have any dog biscuits?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes, "Roll over, Fido." she demanded playfully.

Luke slowly rolled over, grimacing slightly. His face was now in the pillow and Lorelai moved the other pillow under his foot.

Lorelai squeezed some of the cream out onto her fingertips; at first the contact with Luke's thigh was cold but soon heated up. She slowly massaged the cream into his thigh. *This is Luke. Your friend. Your best friend. /is that all we'll ever be?/ Nah, he's a little drunk. He couldn't have really meant it. Why am I even feeling like this?* she questioned herself as she rubbed the ointment up and down his thigh, gently massaging it in.

Luke moaned into the pillow, *Friend Luke, Friend. Man, she's got good hands. Ack, friend. She's my friend. Think cold. Think ugly. Think, something not Lorelai. Taylor. Taylor in a bathing suit. Ew.*

Lorelai mistook the moan for a groan, "You okay?"

Luke nodded, "Yeah, fine." *yeah. that was a lie. I'm nowhere near fine. I just got the visual of Taylor in a bathing suit. And her hands keep going…*

Lorelai finished massaging the ointment into his leg, "Alright Fido, you can roll back over." she joked with a not so confident smile.

"Could you, uh, help me with my pants again?" Luke asked awkwardly as he rolled over.

"Sure." She nodded. She picked up his pants from the foot of the bed and pulled them over his feet and halfway up his legs, where he pulled them up the rest of the way and buckled them again.

"Thanks."

"No problem. I'm just going to wash my hands. Be right back." she said as she headed to her bathroom and emerged a few seconds later. "Good night Luke." she smiled and gave him a small wave while walking across the room.

"Where are you going?" Luke asked curiously.

"Downstairs. I'll sleep on the couch, it's fine."

"No it's not." Luke argued, "You said yourself it's uncomfortable."

"Then I'll sleep in Rory's bed, she's staying at Lane's tonight." she shrugged.

"Sleep here, there's plenty of room."

"You're hurt, I might move and kick you or something."

"With the vodka in that elixir crap, and the ointment on my leg, even if you did I wouldn't feel a thing."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure." he nodded.

"Alright." she conceded, "As long as you share the pillow." she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Of course." he smiled.

She pulled the covers up and climbed into the bed, pulling the covers over them. "Good night Luke."

"Good night." he said as they both soon drifted off to sleep.

~*~

Luke woke up the next morning with a headache, to find Lorelai's arm draped over his stomach and his arm behind her neck and her head in his shoulder. He gently pushed the hair away from her face. *What happened last night? Baseball game, pain. Came here, vodka, ointment, massage. Went to sleep. Just friends.* his mind told him.

Lorelai's eyes fluttered open, *Mm, warm. Huh? There's a body beside me. Luke stayed here!* she quickly moved away from Luke, "I'm sorry!"

"It's fine." Luke shrugged. *just friends. Stop being disappointed.* he scolded himself as he stretched his arms out.

"Um, how are you feeling?" She asked awkwardly.

"I have a splitting headache, but my leg feels fine, the ointment helped."

Lorelai smiled, "That's the vodka. I'll go get you some aspirin and coffee."

"How bout just the Aspirin."

"Fine, Mr. I-own-a-diner-and-sell-lots-of-coffee-but-would-never-drink-it-myself."

"Exactly." he nodded.

"Alright. I'll be right back." She went into her bathroom and opened a cabinet and pulled out some aspirin. Then she handed Luke the bottle and went downstairs to get a bottle of water. She came back up and gave Luke the water.

"Thanks." Luke said as he sat up to take the advil.

"No problem." They sat in an awkward silence for a few moments. "Um Luke, can we talk?"

Luke nodded slowly, scared of what she was going to say.

"When you said, 'is that all we'll ever be?' last night, what did you mean?"

"Um," Luke had no idea what to say but he found himself getting embarrassed, "What?" he pretended to be confused.

*great, he was drunk and doesn't remember.* "Nothing, never mind. Pretend I never said anything."

She looked a little bit disappointed. He realized this was his chance, "Lorelai, I meant I've, uh, liked you for a while now, um, not just in the friendly kind of platonic like but, um,…" he rambled.

"Luke," she smiled, "shh." she shushed him as she put a finger over his lips and then leaned in, replacing her finger with her lips, moving her hand to rest on his cheek of three day stubble.

Luke kissed her back eagerly. They pulled apart a few moments later, "I like you too." she smirked.

Lorelai heard the door shut downstairs and jumped off the bed. She leaned over and quickly kissed Luke, "Rory's home, I'll be right back."

~*~

"Hey Rory!" Lorelai said from the stairs. She went down the rest of the stairs and smiled, "How was the rest of the game?"

"Good, Luke's team won, the score stayed 1-0. Why are you so happy this early?" Rory asked suspiciously.

"Because I just might be in love with Luke."

"And this is just hypothetical?" Rory smirked.

"Strictly hypothetical." Lorelai smiled.

"Uh huh. I'm happy for you."

Lorelai grinned, "Good. Not so hypothetical anymore."

"So you want to go get coffee?"

"Yes but actually, he's still upstairs. Nothing happened though, the whole me being in love with Luke thing just came up this morning." She quickly explained.

"Okay. How's his leg?" Rory shrugged.

"He _said it felt fine. You know it's okay if you freak out."_

"Why would I?"

"Because Luke stayed here last night."

"You said nothing happened-"

"Which it didn't." Lorelai interrupted.

"-And I believe you. Besides, Lane, Sookie, and I have all been waiting for this to happen, along with the rest of the town."

"What?" Lorelai asked confused.

"You and Luke. We saw it coming a long time ago. It just took you guys a while. They were betting on you guys at monthly town meetings, they held special early meetings. Sookie wasn't allowed to bet because of personal involvement, and she was cheating."

"Hm. What kind of betting? Will they or won't they, or what day?"

"Everyone thought you would, they were betting on what day."

"Hm, interesting. Who won?"

"I don't know. Miss Patty polled everyone in the stands and on the teams after you took Luke home though. Forty percent said that you guys were going to get together within the next week."

"What was the other sixty percent?" Lorelai asked curiously.

"Well, two percent was that you and Luke would do something dirty-"

"Who was that?!"

"Bootsy."

Lorelai sighed and shook her head.

"And eighteen percent said Luke would keep pretending he wasn't in love with you. And twenty percent said that you would remain oblivious to the fact that Luke loves you."

"Very interesting results. We should all probably head over to the diner soon."

"Yes, we should. We had tofu for breakfast." Rory agreed.

"So you aren't freaked out?" Lorelai checked.

"Nope, I am very happy for you and Luke." Rory confirmed.

Lorelai hugged Rory, "I love you."

"I love you too," Rory said as they pulled apart, "Now get upstairs and change."

~*~

"Hey Luke." Lorelai smiled as she sat on the edge of the bed next to him and kissed him.

"So you told Rory?" he asked.

Lorelai nodded, "Yep. She's happy for us. Were you aware that they held special town meetings to bet on us?"

"What?!"

"Yep. Rory told me they were betting on what day we'd get together. Miss Patty took a poll of everyone at the baseball game yesterday after we left too."

"Geez, this town is so nosy. What were the results?" Luke asked curiously.

"Forty percent said we'd get together within the next week, eighteen percent was that you would keep pretending you aren't in love with me, and twenty percent was that I would remain oblivious to the fact that you love me."

"What was the other two percent?"

"That we'd do something dirty."

"What?! Who said that?"

"Bootsy."

Luke shook his head and sighed, "How would I have been able to do anything with a pulled hamstring?"

Lorelai smirked and wiggled her eyebrows, "I'm sure I could've figured _something out."_

"You _did have me take my pants off." Luke pointed out._

"That's true." Lorelai laughed. "Well, enough of this conversation which is leading somewhere entertaining; but we should probably head over to the diner because Rory got tofu for breakfast, so I'll help you downstairs and then I've gotta get changed."

"I can get up myself." Luke argued.

"Alright tough guy. Let's see you try." Lorelai challenged as she stood up.

Luke scooted himself to the edge of the bed and put his legs over the edge of the bed, slowly standing up, putting his weight on his left leg.

"Okay, you said you could get up and you've accomplished that. Now I'm going to help you downstairs."

Luke sighed, "Alright, fine."

Lorelai wrapped her arm around his waist and he put his arm around her shoulders. Luke slowly walked out of Lorelai's room and they slowly made their way downstairs.

"Hey Luke, good game last night." Rory greeted as Luke sat down on the couch and Lorelai went back upstairs.

"What was the score?"

"1-0." Rory answered.

"Good." A smile pulled at Luke's lips knowing he scored the only run. *but damn it hurt*

"So, you and mom are finally together now?"

"Yeah. Hey, finally?!"

"Come on Luke. You can't tell _me you haven't liked her for a while."_

"Fine. But, who won the bet?" He asked curiously.

"I don't know, but I could find out."

"Find out what?" Lorelai asked as she came down the stairs.

"If you have murder on your permanent record." Rory answered.

"Why would _I have murder on my spotless permanent record?" Lorelai said innocently. _

"I'm going to find out who picked yesterday in the Luke and Lorelai together calendar." Rory said.

"Ooh, okay!" An idea hit her, "OH! We could use this to our advantage, if someone like Bootsy picked today then we could say that we got together last night!"

"Okay." Rory raised an eyebrow.

"As long as neither Bootsy, Kirk, or Taylor win." Luke shrugged.

"Okay, we should probably go. My body is rejecting the tofu."

"Wait. Luke, how are we getting you into the diner?" Lorelai asked curiously.

"I can distract Miss Patty and ask to see the Calendar, its probably at the studio so I'd have to go there." Rory suggested.

"And we shouldn't really have to worry about anyone else." Luke agreed.

~*~

"Hey Miss Patty!" Rory greeted as she got out of the jeep.

"Hello Darling." She smiled, "How is everything?"

"Everything is good. I was wondering if I could see the Luke and Lorelai together calendar."

"Why? Has anything happened?" Miss Patty asked excitedly.

"No, mom hasn't said anything to me. And you know if it did happen I would be among the first to know. I just want to see it, just in case."

"Okay darling. It's in the studio, come with me and I'll show you."

"Okay." She nodded and leaned back into the jeep, "I'm going to the studio with Miss Patty."

"Okay." Lorelai nodded and they watched Rory go with Miss Patty across the street. Lorelai got out of the car and helped Luke out of the jeep and into the diner.

A few minutes later Rory and Miss Patty returned to the diner where Lorelai was sitting at the counter drinking coffee and Luke was in the kitchen.

"Hey mom." Rory greeted as she sat down next to her.

"Hello Lorelai. How is Luke doing?" Miss Patty asked.

"Fine, he's in the kitchen taking it easy." She shrugged.

"Okay." She said, slightly disappointed. "Well, I have a class of five year olds coming in soon, so I should get going. Goodbye girls." She waved.

"Bye Miss Patty." They waved back smiling.

"So?" Lorelai asked, turning to Rory.

"Where's my coffee?" 

"I was waiting for you to get here so it wouldn't get cold."

"Okay. You'll never in a million years guess." Rory said as she turned to Caesar and asked for a coffee.

"The troubadour?" she asked as Caesar poured Rory's coffee.

"Nope." Rory shook her head, "You'll _never guess, so I'm going to tell you now. Rachel bet on today, and Taylor bet on yesterday."_

Lorelai's eyes got wide, "What?!"

"Told you, you'd never guess! Apparently, since the last time she left she's been checking up on Luke and Miss Patty told her about this calendar thing so she's been sending Patty five dollars every month and picking a random day."

Lorelai's mouth was gaping, "Wow. Checking up on him? Why would she do that, and if she's checking up on him then why is she betting on him getting together with someone that isn't her?" 

"I have no idea. Maybe Luke would know why she left and that might explain why she's checking up on him _and why she's betting on the two of you." Rory suggested as she drank her coffee._

Lorelai pondered for a few moments and then got off of her stool behind the counter and went into the kitchen.

~*~

She snuck up behind Luke at the stove and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You're supposed to be taking it easy, that means sitting down."

"To cook, I have to stand up." He said as he finished putting a grilled cheese sandwich on a plate and put it aside on the counter and put the spatula down and turned around, wrapping his arms around Lorelai's waist. "Besides, I feel fine. I can even walk."

"Okay." She said skeptically, "Who's grilled cheese?"

"I don't know, give it to Caesar. I just cook the food." He shrugged.

"Okay." She reached behind him and grabbed the grilled cheese and leaned out of the kitchen to give it to Caesar and went back into the kitchen.

"So what were the results of the betting calendar?" Luke asked.

"Why did Rachel leave?" Lorelai asked curiously.

Luke raised an eyebrow, "That was random, but she left because of you. She saw that I wasn't in love with her anymore." He answered.

"Okay. Life is making more sense." She nodded.

"For one of us. Why did you ask?"

"She's been checking up on you. She talks to Patty once a month and sends her money."

"What?" 

"She won Luke, she picked the right day. She was in on this too."

"Oh jeez."

"Ironic huh?"

"Yeah. When she left, she told me to tell you why she left before it was too late."

"You should've told me." Lorelai agreed.

"I know that now."

Lorelai smiled, "So Rachel wins? Taylor picked yesterday." She added. 

Luke nodded, "Rachel wins. How are we going to inform the town?" he asked curiously.

"Hmm," Lorelai thought for a moment, "I don't know. We could have fun with this." She smirked as she moved to where Luke was leaning up against the counter and put her hands on either side of him, leaning up and capturing his lips with her own.

When they broke apart Luke raised an eyebrow, "What did you have in mind?" he asked cautiously.

"I don't know. We could do anything from subtle hints, to making out at a town meeting or in the middle of the town." She smiled.

"How about subtle hints?"

"Aww Luke? What's wrong with making out at a town meeting?"

"I don't know." He said sarcastically, "it just seems wrong." 

"Okay." Lorelai agreed. "Subtle hints it is."

Luke nodded, "Speaking of town meetings, are you coming tonight?"

"Yeah. Late as usual of course. I wonder what they would do if you put your arm around the back of my chair?"

"Hmm, I don't know." He shrugged. 

Lorelai kissed him lightly, "I've got to go to the inn. See you tonight, if not before." She said as she opened the door and left the kitchen.

~*~

"Hey Rory. I'm going to head over to the inn. Don't let me forget that there's a town meeting tonight."

"Okay." Rory nodded. "See you later."

"Today's Monday, right?" Lorelai asked before leaving.

"Yep." Rory nodded.

Lorelai raised an eyebrow, "And you don't have to be in school?"

"It's Labor Day." Rory answered simply.

"Oh no." Lorelai groaned, "I hate government holidays."

Rory shrugged, "Do you want me to come in later this afternoon?"

"What do you have planned today?"

"Dean time, directly followed by Lane time."

"Followed by mommy time."

"Okay." Rory agreed.

"See you later." Lorelai said as she left.

~*~

"Hey Sookie." Lorelai said as she picked up her mug and poured coffee into it.

"Hey. Taste this." Sookie turned and held up a spoon to Lorelai.

Lorelai took the spoon and tasted the brown liquid, "Mmmm, what is it?"

"Chocholate sauce for the ice cream. There isn't too much sugar, is there?"

"No such thing." Lorelai smiled, "It's perfect."

"Good. So how is Luke doing?"

"Does _everyone know he pulled his hamstring?"_

"Practically the entire town was at the game."

"Yeah, I suppose that's true. He says it's feeling fine and that he can walk, but he's taking it easy and just staying in the kitchen."

"That's good. You're unusually happy, any reason?"

"Yep." Lorelai nodded and then paused, "I want to tell you something but you can't tell _anyone."_

"I promise."

"Not even Jackson, and especially not anyone in town."

"I promise."

"Me and Luke are a me-and-Luke."

Sookie shrieked, "WOW! It took you long enough!"

"Sookie, shhh. Remember, I said to not tell anyone. Luke and I want to tell the town in our way."

"Okay. Wow, how did it happen?" Sookie asked, calming down.

"After Luke got hurt last night I took him to my house…and he kind of spent the night. We didn't do anything." She clarified.

"Where did he sleep?" she asked curiously.

"My bed."

"And where did you sleep?"

"Okay, we slept in the same bed but that still doesn't constitute as doing anything. Luke had asked me why I was helping him and I said because that's what friends do and he said something along the lines of is that all we'll ever be. I just tried to ignore it but I wanted to know what he meant by it, then I thought it was just the Vodka talking."

"Vodka?" Sookie interrupted.

"I went over to Babette's to get the ointment she gave me when I had the back spasm and she gave me some type of elixir thing to relieve the pain and it had some vodka in it. But anyway, I asked him about it this morning and at first he acted like he didn't know what I was talking about but then he started rambling and I kissed him."

"Aw, and that was it?"

Lorelai nodded, "I talked to Rory when she got home too and she's happy for us."

"Where was she?"

"She spent the night at Lane's after the game."

"And she wasn't freaked out or anything by Luke spending the night?"

"I thought she would be, but she said she wasn't."

"Wow, that's great."

"Yeah. Oh yeah, and I found out about the town calendar."

"What about the calendar? Oh, _that calendar."_

"Yeah, you'll never ever guess who won."

"The troubadour?"

"Nope, but that's who I guessed when Rory said I'd never guess."

"So who was it?!"

"Rachel."

"Really?!"

"Yep. She's been checking up on Luke, talking to Patty and frequent gossipers. Apparently Patty told her about the calendar and she decided to participate."

"Wow."

"Yeah." Lorelai nodded.

"You're smiling a lot."

Lorelai laughed, "I know, my face hurts but I can't help it."

"Lorelai, there is a person at the front desk demanding to see the manager." Michel said snappishly as he leaned into the kitchen.

Lorelai sighed, "And you couldn't play manager?"

"As much as I enjoy it, no. This man's stupidity is aggravating."

"Alright, I'll be out in a bit."

Michel scoffed and returned to the front desk.

"Hey Lorelai, you might want to stop smiling if you don't want anyone to know yet."

"Yeah, I'll try to pretend that I am an unhappy, lonely, old woman." Lorelai smirked as she left the kitchen and went to tend to her business.

~*~

"Rory, what time is it?" Lorelai called down the stairs.

"Ten after seven." Rory called back.

"The town meeting started at seven didn't it?" Lorelai asked rhetorically as she ran down the stairs putting on her shoes.

Rory nodded in amusement as Lorelai struggled to put her shoes on while running down the stairs. Finally she stopped to put them on.

"Alright, let's go." 

~*~

They entered the town hall and found Luke sitting next to two empty chairs, Taylor scowled at them as they sat next to Luke. "You two are always late!"

"I'm sure what you've been doing for the past ten minutes has been very interesting, so please continue. No need to recap for us." Lorelai smiled sweetly.

"You're later than usual." Luke whispered as he put his arm around the back of her chair.

"I know. I'll tell you about it later." She whispered back.

After the meeting was over Luke, Lorelai, and Rory went to the diner.

"I heard a couple people behind us talking. And I think Babette is onto us." Lorelai smirked.

"You're having too much fun." Luke shook his head and handed the two of them cups of coffee.

"Yeah probably, but that's never stopped me from having more fun. So anyway, how's your leg feeling?"

"Fine." He shrugged, "So, why were you two so late today?"

"We were at the Inn until seven. There was a guy there who kept saying his water wasn't hot enough or cold enough, he wanted square soap, not rectangular soap, and his pillows weren't fluffy enough, then they were too fluffy, his sheets were wrinkled, then they had too much starch." Lorelai groaned, "He drove me crazy _all day. Not to mention that the Inn was overcrowded anyway and there were kids running all over the place."_

"Wow. Someone needs to have that guy committed."

"The thought crossed my mind more than once." 

"I'm going to head home. I have a couple things left to do for school tomorrow." Rory said as she got up.

"Okay. See you when I get home." Lorelai said as Rory left the diner.

"Are you hungry?" Luke asked.

Lorelai smiled, "When am I not? I'd better get a real burger too, not that disgusting thing I bit into yesterday." She made a face.

"So you didn't like it?" Luke joked.

Lorelai glared at him, "How can you eat like that?"

Luke laughed, "How do you eat the way you do?"

"Years of practice." She smiled.

"Okay, I'll make you a burger. You can even watch."

"Good." She said as she followed him into the kitchen.

~*~

"When's the next town meeting?" Lorelai asked as she bit into her hamburger.

"Next week."

"I don't wanna wait that long." She pouted.

"Me neither." Luke agreed.

Within a few minutes Lorelai finished her hamburger and Luke took her plate to the kitchen and set it in the sink. "I should probably get home soon."

"Okay. I'll walk with you." Luke offered and he turned off the lights and locked the door behind them as they walked outside.

Lorelai took his hand as they walked down the street and passed Miss Patty's Studio. When they got to Lorelai's house they stopped before they went on the porch. "The porch creaks and Rory would come out to see what was going on." Lorelai explained to Luke.

"Okay." Luke nodded and put one hand on her waist and the other on her cheek bringing her face to his and he gently kissed her. Lorelai snaked her arms around his neck and ran her fingers though the hair sticking out from under his baseball cap as they kissed. "I love you."

"I love you too." She smiled. They hugged and Lorelai whispered in Luke's ear, "The whole town is going to know by tomorrow. Babette is peeking through her window."

Color rose to Luke's cheeks, "Oh well."  He shrugged. "Good night." He said as they shared one more quick kiss before Lorelai walked up the stairs and waved to Babette.

~*~

The End. What did you think?


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